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Frank Varro replied to the topic wetlands effects on health in the forum SUSTAINABILITY & DESIGN 12 years, 3 months ago
To over generalize, as long as it drains, within around 12 hours, or has enough flow to the water, mosquitos cannot breed, and malaria etc is uneffected. Essentially, created wetlands need to have some flow pattern, and detention basins need to drain.
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Frank Varro replied to the topic Workstation build and Software in the forum GENERAL DISCUSSION 12 years, 7 months ago
I would look at tomshardware.com. Tons of great advice there, and they do system builds every few months in three price brackets. What is your total budget looking like? In march they build a $650, a $1250, and a $2600 machine.
The productivity comparison (between each and their January builds) is here: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/overcl…[Read more]
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Frank Varro replied to the topic Sketchup acquired by Trimble in the forum GENERAL DISCUSSION 12 years, 8 months ago
Maybe Trimble will take over where @Last left off and, unlike Google has, start fixing some bugs again.
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Frank Varro replied to the topic Somebody really needs to check for the pulse. in the forum GENERAL DISCUSSION 12 years, 8 months ago
LEED and Sustainable sites has almost 0 overlap with RLA testing. Sure LEED is important, but only important for someone who has already proven they are skilled in the things RLA testing tests. Plus, LEED, realistically, is much more architecture focused right now. If they pull a sustainable sites portion in more, that’ll change the story SL…[Read more]
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Frank Varro replied to the topic Somebody really needs to check for the pulse. in the forum GENERAL DISCUSSION 12 years, 8 months ago
If you don’t value things ASLA has done, like title/licensure acts in most states, then fine, don’t be a member. Personally, I like supporting the group that has the power to lobby for me, and telling them about issues that matter to me as a professional. In NYC recently the city Dept of Building has stopped accepting some LA stamps for things…[Read more]
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Frank Varro replied to the topic Somebody really needs to check for the pulse. in the forum GENERAL DISCUSSION 12 years, 8 months ago
So, instead of looking at the ASLA as a group to promote the career path you are in, that you think needs some new guidance, as a resource, you look at it as evil and run away? Why not become active in your chapter or on the national level? It isn’t hard, within a few years of graduating I sat on two different national commitees, and now am…[Read more]
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Frank Varro replied to the topic monochrome graphic presentation in the forum GRAPHICS 12 years, 9 months ago
Are you thinking just black inkline type work, or something where everything is in shades of green, or blue? I think either can work, but its not an easy thing to pull off. I have tried it in the past and while it never went terrible, I’m not sure it was worth the extra effort for me with my graphic design sensibility.
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Frank Varro replied to the topic What can an LA do that an architect cannot, and vice versa? in the forum GENERAL DISCUSSION 12 years, 9 months ago
I was there for my first semester of LA undergrad, its a good, competitive program, and I think it’ll be a great place for someone who wants to explore the different fields a bit before locking themselves in (My friend got his Arch degree from ISU as well). The only trick is you won’t do much real design in that first year, so you’re going to…[Read more]
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Frank Varro replied to the topic What can an LA do that an architect cannot, and vice versa? in the forum GENERAL DISCUSSION 12 years, 9 months ago
The long and short of it is: Architects design buildings, Landscape architects design everywhere people are not inside a building (including placing those buildings in theory), Planners design regulations to ensure the multiple designs (buildings and non-buildings) work together to create a functional neighborhood, city, or region.
There is some…[Read more]
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Frank Varro replied to the topic What is the most beautiful street in the world? in the forum PLACES & SPACES 12 years, 11 months ago
I have to say, whatever road it is that leads to Villa Lante from Viberbo is pretty mind blowing. Huge trees growing through the pavement in the street. A horror show, but amazing.
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Frank Varro replied to the topic Best mobile workstation for Autocad2012 and SketchUp? in the forum GENERAL DISCUSSION 13 years, 1 month ago
I’d go PC over Mac (I know at least last years CAD for Mac was apparently fairly badly disabled in some features), and I’m a PC, not a Mac in general…
For good PC laptops, brand wise look at Toshiba, HP, and Alienware.
HP just announced that they have decided NOT to be idiots and sell off the only profitable part of their company, which is…[Read more] -
Frank Varro posted an update in the group SketchUp 13 years, 3 months ago
I can attest to newer Geforce cards. I have a 470 from last year, and it runs like a champ. MIGHT end up going to a dual card setup, but that’s caused more by “Battlefield 3” than work…
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Frank Varro replied to the topic Large Trees in Small Spaces in the forum PLANTS & HORTICULTURE 13 years, 4 months ago
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Frank Varro replied to the topic Opinion on Which Core i7 Processor? in the forum TECHNOLOGY 13 years, 5 months ago
It all depends on what level of graphic work you are looking at doing. If its CAD and basic photoshop, you’ll be fine with about anything. If your planning on doing 3D, large and multilayer photoshop, then you need more of a workhorse. I built my own system with an i7 940 processor (quad core 2.97 Ghz) 6 Gigs of DDR3 ram, and a GeForce 470 Gr…[Read more]
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Frank Varro replied to the topic Is it just me… or do we need to rethink our illustrative quality of figures in the landscape? in the forum GENERAL DISCUSSION 13 years, 5 months ago
Quick link: the uncanny valley I mentioned get explored in some new research: http://gizmodo.com/5822648/why-brains-get-creeped-out-by-androids
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Frank Varro replied to the topic Is it just me… or do we need to rethink our illustrative quality of figures in the landscape? in the forum GENERAL DISCUSSION 13 years, 5 months ago
I think its in part due to the fact that as programs get better, people find themselves falling into the “uncanny valley”, where things looks ALMOST photorealistic, but just enough not real to REALLY throw people off. That means to get a good looking photorealistic rendering more work has to be done on the front end with good materials, and with…[Read more]
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Frank Varro replied to the topic Student looking for unique ways to indicate grasslands, meadows and prairies in the forum GRAPHICS 13 years, 5 months ago
I started a series of Photoshop tutorials a ways back, I didn’t get to prairie type areas, but the same techniques I used for turf-grass and dirt should work.
Turf: http://land8lounge.com/profiles/blogs/tuesday-tutorial-turf-and
Dirt: http://land8lounge.com/profiles/blogs/tuesday-tutorial-time-to-get
I did do a phase of this design with p…[Read more] -
Frank Varro replied to the topic Help! Making Sketchup more realistic in the forum GRAPHICS 13 years, 6 months ago
Sketchup is a tricky thing. You CAN get decent results with careful material work in sketchup itself, but its hard, and without bump/displacement mapping and reflections, its limited. Daniel Tal is a big fan of the ShaderLight plugin. It gives him some really good work, with the ease of modeling of SketchUp.
I am using a program called The…[Read more] -
Frank Varro replied to the topic Macs Vs PCs in the forum GENERAL DISCUSSION 13 years, 6 months ago
It really does come down to preference. At this point, almost all software available on PC is available on MAC, even without doing a windows boot on a Mac (Which is also a viable option in the event you find yourself in need of, say, full ArcGIS). What it really comes down to is this:
PCs offer easier upgrade-ability if you are looking for a d…[Read more] -
Frank Varro replied to the topic Macs Vs PCs in the forum GENERAL DISCUSSION 13 years, 6 months ago
“A current Mac laptop would still be in use 100 years from now…with no upgrades and virus free.”
Now you are just being a fanboy and silly.
http://www.networkworld.com/community/blog/mac-defender-did-you-really-think-apple-macs-
Have fun being virus free… - Load More